O M G, It's Hilary with a Trump wig on.

I may be late to the party here on this one but, I just saw the new President Trump figure at the Hall of Presidents. It's Hillary Clinton with a Trump wig on, a bad one at that. Look at it closely, it has her face shape, eyes, mouth and wrinkles, with a bad version of his hair. Disney really is pathetic.

Advertisement

I will not comment on who/what I think the animatonic looks like, nor will I comment on the content of the new speech, or my feelings politically. I will simply echo part of what I said on Craig's article on this. I will also say (as I said there) I will admit I have not looked closely in the past into whether the other animatronics look like the Presidents represented or not - they have done a passing enough job for them not to have "stuck out" in my mind or admittedly feeble memory in a negative way. Maybe if I had paid attention to/seen closeups I'd feel the same way as I do now, I honestly don't know, and that's not the focus of my comments, which is this particular figure. Period.

I have not seen the new figure in person, but the videos I have seen (all close ups) look almost nothing like him to me, except for the hair. I also personally feel the one big "gesture" they chose to include was an extremely poor choice - yes, I've seen the person himself do it, but don't feel it is anywhere near "iconic", nor deserved to be included as a dignified and contextual representation. Other gestures were much better choices, and (to be fair) "nailed it".

I am personally disappointed on WDI's "take" on the figure, especially since the attraction was closed for such a long period of time - regardless of the reasons for that closure - they still had that amount of time to work on it, and I think the outcome is second-rate and disappointing.

All IMHO, of course. No flames, please. I have been concise, respectful, and hesitated until now to comment at all, so please use the same common sense and courtesy.

I am personally disappointed on WDI's "take" on the figure, especially since the attraction was closed for such a long period of time - regardless of the reasons for that closure - they still had that amount of time to work on it, and I think the outcome is second-rate and disappointing.

Click to expand...

I agree - the characterisation is definitely lacking in the reality department. Might be ok from a distance but does not pass muster up close.

In all honesty most of the living presidents are not exactly right. Obama's does not look quite right. The Bush's either. I think it is hard to create an animatronic of a living person because we see them on TV or online so much so we have such a spitting image of them in our brains. The presidents like Washington and Lincoln we base off paintings and such in history so we only have that to go off of which gives us that one point of view. Had we seen them in real life we may think their AAs don't look like them either.

In all honesty most of the living presidents are not exactly right. Obama's does not look quite right. The Bush's either. I think it is hard to create an animatronic of a living person because we see them on TV or online so much so we have such a spitting image of them in our brains. The presidents like Washington and Lincoln we base off paintings and such in history so we only have that to go off of which gives us that one point of view. Had we seen them in real life we may think their AAs don't look like them either.

Click to expand...

I appreciate your thoughtful post, Ryan, and it definitely gives me a different perspective on things, which I've always said I love about these boards. I am pretty much always willing (and often refreshed) to have an open mind, and see things from a different angle. Brought to those thoughts by my fellow DISBoards inhabitants.

In all honesty most of the living presidents are not exactly right. Obama's does not look quite right. The Bush's either. I think it is hard to create an animatronic of a living person because we see them on TV or online so much so we have such a spitting image of them in our brains. The presidents like Washington and Lincoln we base off paintings and such in history so we only have that to go off of which gives us that one point of view. Had we seen them in real life we may think their AAs don't look like them either.

Click to expand...

Based on the close-up images, the new animatronic is REALLY bad. It is pretty much a laughingstock in the media. Some of that is politically driven, but it really is harsh criticism of the attraction feature itself. I am sure it is a very difficult art AND science to make a lifelike animatronic, but it is also hard to believe Disney could not have done better than they did.

I have not seen the new figure in person, but the videos I have seen (all close ups) look almost nothing like him to me, except for the hair. I also personally feel the one big "gesture" they chose to include was an extremely poor choice - yes, I've seen the person himself do it, but don't feel it is anywhere near "iconic", nor deserved to be included as a dignified and contextual representation. Other gestures were much better choices, and (to be fair) "nailed it".

I am personally disappointed on WDI's "take" on the figure, especially since the attraction was closed for such a long period of time - regardless of the reasons for that closure - they still had that amount of time to work on it, and I think the outcome is second-rate and disappointing.

Click to expand...

Well said as usual, Heidi.

I'm not a fan of Trump. I'm not gonna get political at all but I'm just stating that because my opinion is two points:

1. Part of me thinks it's funny that he looks so bad. I don't like him, I don't want him in there (even though he obviously should be) and I like that if he has to be there it's a poor representation of him.

2. However, my views on Imagination are probably stronger than my politics (I clearly have my priorities in order). And the fact that this attraction was closed for a year to produce... that... is odd. I read that they start designing audio-animatronics for both candidates during the campaign. Now even if Imagineers were confident Hillary would win and started from scratch to make Trump, it should still look better... unless they did it on purpose. Either way, it's not anything the Imagineers should be proud of.

------

Oh and I can't bring myself to watch a video of it... but what's the "big gesture"?

I'm not a fan of Trump. I'm not gonna get political at all but I'm just stating that because my opinion is two points:

1. Part of me thinks it's funny that he looks so bad. I don't like him, I don't want him in there (even though he obviously should be) and I like that if he has to be there it's a poor representation of him.

2. However, my views on Imagination are probably stronger than my politics (I clearly have my priorities in order). And the fact that this attraction was closed for a year to produce... that... is odd. I read that they start designing audio-animatronics for both candidates during the campaign. Now even if Imagineers were confident Hillary would win and started from scratch to make Trump, it should still look better... unless they did it on purpose. Either way, it's not anything the Imagineers should be proud of.

------

Oh and I can't bring myself to watch a video of it... but what's the "big gesture"?

Click to expand...

I won't watch it either, but from what I'm hearing, it's him giving that closed-mouth smile and two thumbs up.

I'm not a fan of Trump. I'm not gonna get political at all but I'm just stating that because my opinion is two points:

1. Part of me thinks it's funny that he looks so bad. I don't like him, I don't want him in there (even though he obviously should be) and I like that if he has to be there it's a poor representation of him.

2. However, my views on Imagination are probably stronger than my politics (I clearly have my priorities in order). And the fact that this attraction was closed for a year to produce... that... is odd. I read that they start designing audio-animatronics for both candidates during the campaign. Now even if Imagineers were confident Hillary would win and started from scratch to make Trump, it should still look better... unless they did it on purpose. Either way, it's not anything the Imagineers should be proud of.

------

Oh and I can't bring myself to watch a video of it... but what's the "big gesture"?

I'm intrigued by the comments that the current president appears to be a modification of the democratic candidate. I'm intrigued because I can't imagine being an employee and deliberately sculpting the mold with that work-around in mind. (Costumer FYI: Also, it's much easier to go back to your mold, adjust the mold or make a new mold then cast the new face. As an employee, I wouldn't modify an existing cast, I'd cast the face off a new mold or modified mold. I wouldn't want to be the employee that thought it would look "just as good" by modifying the cast face. It can be considered more lazy going that route. For 3d printing to create a mold, it's gotten MUCH cheaper just to re-design and re-print your mold.)

So if an employee is deliberately risking their career by modifying a "Hillary" face to a "Trump" face, then I would draw a parallel to those artists that created images in films that were not appropriate to the work. I can't imagine being a person who cares about their career to do this, knowing how high profile this face/attraction/animatronic would be. I can easily imagine it was just a bad sculpt or otherwise bad use of medium for the work, and we are drawing associations to the democratic candidate as well as adding projected reasons for those associations. (Much like those inappropriate images in films.)

Anyways, I'm just intrigued, and look forward to hearing the story how the animatronic was made- assuming we'll hear about it some point in the future. I also totally understand that there will differences of opinion on the sculpt/cast, and look forward to hearing ideas and thoughts.

I said this on the other thread but there is a white brace clearly around his neck to hide his mechanics. That should have easily been covered by his costume. It's sloppy. It's not even due to cost savings. It was just careless. He looks really awful. I am really disappointed in Disney. It seems almost intentional.
I also agree with everything @SorcererHeidi said. She was much more elegant. I wish I could show her grace.

I said this on the other thread but there is a white brace clearly around his neck to hide his mechanics. That should have easily been covered by his costume. It's sloppy. It's not even due to cost savings. It was just careless. He looks really awful. I am really disappointed in Disney. It seems almost intentional.
I also agree with everything @SorcererHeidi said. She was much more elegant. I wish I could show her grace.

Click to expand...

Humbly accept the compliment, but have seen "the real you" in here many times, @disneyland_is_magic and you're pretty awesome yourself.

Thank you to all my fellow DISers and in particular @SorcererHeidi for making a strong effort to keep this thread respectful and open minded towards all view points as we all know that this is a very sensitive topic. With that said, here is my take on the matter:

IMHO, as I stated in another thread of this same topic, I find it very disappointing that WDI did such a poor job on this animatronic, we all know that this is far BELOW the standard of what Disney is known for and it simply does not make sense that they would close this attraction for such a long period of time and have this as the outcome. Furthermore, as a former WDW CM and life-long WDW fan, I can only HOPE that the company would not go to the extent of making this a underlying political statement, I really hope that the company that I love would not get down to that level..

Thank you to all my fellow DISers and in particular @SorcererHeidi for making a strong effort to keep this thread respectful and open minded towards all view points as we all know that this is a very sensitive topic. With that said, here is my take on the matter:

IMHO, as I stated in another thread of this same topic, I find it very disappointing that WDI did such a poor job on this animatronic, we all know that this is far BELOW the standard of what Disney is known for and it simply does not make sense that they would close this attraction for such a long period of time and have this as the outcome. Furthermore, as a former WDW CM and life-long WDW fan, I can only HOPE that the company would not go to the extent of making this a underlying political statement, I really hope that the company that I love would not get down to that level..

Thank you to all my fellow DISers and in particular @SorcererHeidi for making a strong effort to keep this thread respectful and open minded towards all view points as we all know that this is a very sensitive topic. With that said, here is my take on the matter:

IMHO, as I stated in another thread of this same topic, I find it very disappointing that WDI did such a poor job on this animatronic, we all know that this is far BELOW the standard of what Disney is known for and it simply does not make sense that they would close this attraction for such a long period of time and have this as the outcome. Furthermore, as a former WDW CM and life-long WDW fan, I can only HOPE that the company would not go to the extent of making this a underlying political statement, I really hope that the company that I love would not get down to that level..

Click to expand...

Ditto on all the comments on this thread. This attraction will always have a special place in my heart. It was part of the America's Story YES Tour that I gave. I stood on that stage with my YES groups and told stories about the first 18 presidents. We had to memorize each president and their facts. I'm pretty sure at some point during our training we were given info on how the animatronics were made. I don't remember exact numbers but know the process is very costly and if Disney is willing to spend thousands of dollars on them then at least they should resemble the president. I do not think this is the case with the Trump animatronic. From the pictures I have seen Trump looks scary. I wonder if anyone disagrees with that. Has any of these threads placed a poll on it? I think I also may have read that some people thought that the Obama animatronic didn't resemble Obama too. I think I saw somewhere that both these two animatronics were done by someone new or there was a new process. Not sure. I will try to dig up my script and training from the tour and see what background info I have on the attraction.